Bat Out Of Hell The Musical - ongoing changes to the show
This page can be considered to contain spoilers, even though it mainly describes small changes. All known changes from show-to-show for Bat Out Of Hell The Musical are listed here, using opening / press night / closing as milestones for the show. This page is by no means a complete and exhaustive list of all changes, it could never possibly be. We do not know the contents of the NYC workshop at all. During the Manchester preview run, the cast were mentioning to fans that the script was changing every night. Changes between Manchester opening preview (17th February 2017) and press night (14th March 2017) On the first night of previews, none of the informational scenario screens were projected for the audience before the show or during interval. Raven's bedroom wall - on the first show, she had a poster which was the cover of Jim Steinman's Bad for Good (minus the lettering). Later in the run, more posters were added to her wall; Meat Loaf, Joan Jett, Peter Pan and a poster of Strat. The Strat poster was dropped by the time the show got to London, but the rest remain. In the earliest previews, no clear reason was given as Falco's reason for hating The Lost so much. Later on, he began to state in the scene just before singing Who Needs the Young? that The Lost has just blown up his first housing project, and later on, in the scene where Strat asks Zahara if she'd offer her throat, Zahara would mention that Falco was intending to bulldoze the Deep End "if he can find it". In the very first preview show, Strat referred to Tink as his little brother. The next week, there was no mention of that, and that idea never returned. In the song It Just Won't Quit, there would be two Ravens in her room; the one singing the song sadly, and a silent dancing one, presumably to symbolise her inner feelings. This was confusing, so the second Raven was taken out. For the first two previews, the intro to Speaking In Tongues (Braver version) was played as Zahara and Strat flirt. During the opening previews, the musical contained the song Good Girls Go to Heaven just after Sloane invites her daughter to go to The Deep End. The scene was energetic and gender-ambiguity themed, harking back to The Deep End in the music video for If You Were a Woman and I Was a Man which Jim Steinman co-produced. Both male and female cast members dressed in feminine outfits, dancing together along the left side of the stage. A female member of The Lost in masculine clothing with the word "BOY" written on her cap. The main vocals were from the characters Sloane and Zahara; Zahara flirting with Strat. This song has now been replaced by Out of the Frying Pan and no such themes of gender ambiguity remain within the scene. In initial previews, there was just a small snippet of Out of the Frying Pan in the show - its intro and most of the first verse of the song before Tink crashed his bike. When Good Girls Go to Heaven was removed, it was replaced by the rest of the song Out of the Frying Pan - from the second verse onwards. Immediately after the "Good Girls" scene, Sloane stood to the fore of the stage with her footwear in her hands and delivered a monologue originating in Neverland : "I wandered for days and days, and I came to a beach at the edge of a lake, and everything was so clear. It was like the white sun-bright sky had shed the ocean below it like... like a winter skin. I laid back and I tried to remember what it felt like to be young. I tried to reassemble my youth in my mind, but.... it wouldn't come back. It could never come back to my mind. That's not where it was. That's not where it was" Falco's threat to Strat during Raven's birthday party was "I'll rip his throat out!". Later, this became "I'll rip his fucking balls off!" During the same scene, Sloane used to say: "Oh Yes! What fun we used to have with those metaphors! Not even to mention the similes! He was horny like as a devil!". This was later changed to simply "Oh Yes! What fun we used to have! He was horny like a devil!" The song Making Love Out of Nothing at All was included in the first few nights of previews, but was taken out for the remainder of the Manchester run. It reappeared when the show opened in London. In the cage scene, The Lost were dressed in orange jumpsuits to show that they're Falco's prisoners. Later in the Manchester run, these orange jumpsuits were no longer used. They returned for the London run. During the song Heaven Can Wait, Raven used to fly out of her bedroom, lie horizontally in the air, and flip around vertically, all while singing. The flying was taken out - the reason given was that the theatre in Manchester wasn't big enough for what they'd imagined - that she would fly out into the audience. A few different activities were then made for Raven to do while singing the song - sitting and hugging her knees, writing in a diary. The activity they ended up settling on was for Raven to sit in her room and draws hearts on herself - up her arm and on her chest - with what looks like an eyeliner pencil. Immediately after the song Heaven Can Wait, while The Lost are still caged, there used to be a very menacing dialogue between Falco and The Lost. "So your brave leader is now a leading corpse" "Strat was a legend!" "And now he's just a cautionary tale. So clever of him to leave things to you" "you fucking just followed us" "and like the obedient bastards you are, you followed him. Really, it's too good. Strat's dead, you're all in prison, and you all should have thought twice before trying to hurt my family hehehehe You'll die till you're dead, you hear me? hehe Now think of the pain I could cause. Think of the horrifying loss of control I could create for you! Enough! You know, my dad always said - take everything in life with a pinch of salt. He made a terrible cup of coffee! Nighty-night!" - this entire segment was dropped. This was followed by the dialogue between the Lost where they originally would lament: "Hey, why are nuns so scary?" "It's because the whole world is in colour, and the nuns are in black and white" "I miss the nuns. And churches. And holidays." "Seems like ages ago" "It was" "Do you remember what they made us learn?" "Ten all fathers and ten hail Marys" "and a two point conversion!" "and in the penalty box!" "And another nun bites the dust!" This dialogue between the Lost was replaced with "So many things to miss. Churches, and holidays, Big Macs, baseball...." "I even miss the bad times" "we were all so damaged!" When The Lost encounter Strat for the first time after he comes back to life, one of them ask him "Are you a ghost? Can you walk through walls?" to which he replied "no, sadly". This got cut. A very minor change - Raven initially would mention to Strat that she had never dreamed before. This conflicted with the opening lyrics to It Just Won't Quit so it was changed to say that she never dreams any more. The scene in Act 2 where Raven describes a dream she's been having, was an excerpt from a poem. This poem was "Virginitiphobia — The fear of rape" by Patrick Ryan Frank and was credited in the show programme as "The rape of fear". This poem was later replaced by some lines from I've Been Dreaming Up a Storm Lately. On the very early previews, after Tink was killed, Falco escaped and ended up in Raven's bedroom. Raven comes in and yells at her father, calls him a murderer and says she'll never forgive him, tells him that he's ruined everything. The Lost come in, and Strat levels a gun at Falco. Zahara tells him not to do it. Falco wails "I didn't mean to kill your friend! I didn't mean it! It was an accident! Go ahead! Do it! I deserve it! Do it!". Strat calmly replies "do it yourself" and tosses him the gun. Falco pleads "I'm sorry! Do you hear me? I'm sorry! I'm sorry!". And Raven tells Strat to leave Falco alone. Then we see a screen in front of "Hell" that says "Six months later", and then it went into the scene "It's All Coming Back To Me Now". By press night, this had changed to Raven coming in and yelling at her father, and threw something at him, he says it was an accident and asks for forgiveness, but there was no gun and The Lost weren't present. Rather than having a sign that said "Six months later", there is a short scene in the graveyard with Strat by a grave with an enormous flower arrangement that says TINK, and Zahara speaks to him. Strat: "I still miss him" Zahara: "Strat, you gotta stop this. Tink wouldn't want to see you like this. And Raven? She's as miserable as you are. She doesn't eat, she doesn't sleep, she hasn't left her room in six months". Strat: "I don't wanna hear about her" Zahara: "You love her." Strat: "No" Zahara: "You know you do". Then the "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" scene. On the very first night of previews, at the end of the show when they sing I'd Do Anything for Love, towards the end of the song - after Falco has emerged from the pool, Andrew Polec playing Strat ran onto the stage from the back towards his co-star Christina Bennington playing Raven near the front of the stage. He slipped on some of the water spilled from the pool area, landed square on his back, and kept on sliding towards the edge of the stage - the gap where the car goes after Paradise by the Dashboard Light which is a 15-metre drop into to the pit. Christina grabbed Andrew and he didn't fall down the hole. And he didn't miss a beat, he carried on singing his next line, with a look of "oh my gosh I nearly died!" across his face. In the next performance, and every subsequent performance, Strat now rides onto the stage on his motorbike rather than running onto the stage. Changes between Manchester press night (17th March 2017) and closing night (29th April 2017) In the first versions of the script, there was a scene where Strat asks Tink what the most used phrase in movies is. The answer is "Let's get outta here!", and he uses it. Later on, in the scene where Zahara removes herself and Sloane out of Raven's bedroom when Falco becomes violent, she also said "Let's get outta here! - I can't believe I just said that!". Both that initial scene and Zahara's "Let's get outta here" are now gone, but Strat does cry "Let's get outta here!" before he starts singing the song Bat Out of Hell. The transition from Hot Summer Night to You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth was smoother on closing night. In initial previews, Strat and Raven had performed Hot Summer Night, started singing You Took The Words, then The Lost would turn up, the song would stop, they'd talk, and then they'd start singing again. In the final night at Manchester, Strat and Raven would perform Hot Summer Night, The Lost would turn up, they'd talk, and then the song would start. No musical start / stop. In the scene where Tink and Strat are interacting after Tink crashes his bicycle, Strat and Tink sing a fragment of Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through then Strat tells him to "get some sleep". Then he yells "And all of you!" towards The Lost. In the older versions, The Lost would respond and leave. This changed so that The Lost's general response was to make various protesting sounds and gestures and Strat would say "or not?!" In the immediately following scene, in early versions Zahara and Strat would flirt together on an empty stage. In later versions, now that The Lost hadn't been sent to bed, Jagwire stands and watches his girlfriend flirting with Strat and makes various WTH expressions. Then, where Zahara previously said to Strat that Falco is planning to bulldoze The Deep End, this dialogue was changed to her knowing that Falco has a plan to build condos over The Deep End, with no question that he knows its location. In earlier versions of the musical, when Sloane invited Raven to The Deep End (whether the next scene was Good Girls or Frying Pan), both characters were visible in the next scene, interacting with The Lost. By the last night in Manchester, the two were not to be seen in that scene. In the scene where Tink goes into Raven's bedroom and viciously kills her pillow, another character would then appear from behind her bedroom door, sit on the slashed bed, and light a cigarette. This projected image would transition to the flames of Hell for the next scene. In the newer version, that smoking character was omitted from the scene. In the graveyard scene, in some versions near the end of the run, Zahara did not mention that it had been "six months", leaving the elapsed time more vague. This specific time scale was back on closing night at Manchester. Changes between Manchester closing night (29th April 2017) and London opening preview (5th June 2017) All of the cast have different costumes. The iconic red "Strat shirt" and "Baal shirt" still remain, though. Raven's line "Mom! What are you wearing?!" used to be in reference to Sloane wearing a white t-shirt with black print of a face-close up of a nun flipping the bird. Now Sloane wears a little silver and black number. There are three additional cast members. The characters' names are Astroganger, Judge, and Lunarrow. These are non-speaking roles. A little more of the area just above the escalator, to the left of Raven's balcony, is visible. It is known as "the mall" and contains old broken mannequins. Some audience members say they have seen a figure standing vigil there. Before the show starts, ambient noises are heard, it is never stated what they represent. Perhaps underground rail sounds? While Strat is polishing and maintaining his bike before Love and Death and an American Guitar, there are now two girls on stage instead of just one. A newspaper called The Obsidian Times is handed out to patrons before entering the seating area of the theatre. It provides a little background for the show, although the contents have not been confirmed to be canon. It claims that The Lost have only been frozen for 25 years, mentions Raven's 18th birthday, Falco's housing projects, something about power cuts in the city which could be due to The Lost fighting back against the Deep End being demolished, an advice column where "Wendy" advises "Forever Young" (implied Tink) to find friends his own age and that it's a "phase" he'll "grow out of". And something about flying cars and an advert for the "Pride Of Obsidian" lager which they sell in the theatre for £5.50 per 330ml bottle. The Bad For Good poster in Raven's bedroom appears to have a greatly enlarged moon in the sky. During All Revved Up with No Place to Go at the start, before Tink starts spray painting, Zahara runs off, then comes back on stage wielding a chainsaw and waves it at the police, before being hauled off. Ledoux breaks a bottle over Falco's head and runs off, then when Falco regains his senses, he grabs Tink - the nearest Lost member, throws him to the floor and starts kicking him. Zahara has returned to speaking about bulldozing the Deep End again, rather than Falco building condos. The song Out of the Frying Pan is now split so that there is no singing during its first appearance. Then for its second appearance, the complete song is performed. During this extended version, Tink, Ledoux and Blake hold up the large poster of Raven and urge Strat to romantically pursue her. He runs up to the mall, and takes a look at her through her balcony window. She appears to be practising to play an electric guitar. Strat comes down again and pounces playfully on Tink, who attempts to kiss Strat through the poster of Raven. During the song Two Out of Three Ain't Bad, Strat doesn't walk onto the stage during the song to illustrate who Zahara is singing about. In Raven's birthday party, Falco's "joke" referred to Strat as a "delinquent kid" rather than a "delinquent terrorist kid". As the show's opening was two days after a terrorist incident in London, this seemed like a natural change to make. In the song Paradise by the Dashboard Light, on the line "Lord, I was crazed!", Falco whips off his trousers in one split-second move to reveal bulging metallic pink underpants. The song Making Love Out of Nothing at All has returned to the show, in the same position as before; in the scene where Strat and Raven are in her bedroom. The Stars (spoken word) piece was omitted. There is a new special effect which is seen during the song Bat Out Of Hell, closing the first act. Strat's bike crashes, parts of it slowly fly out, and a large graphic showing flying bike parts is displayed behind Strat. As he continues, the flying bike parts slowly come together to form a giant metal love heart in the air, before disengaging once more. Falco is now more gleefully sadistic and celebratory about Strat's death, and also reveals that he knows Zahara is "one of them" before beginning to sing In the Land of the Pig, the Butcher Is King. During the song Heaven Can Wait, Raven now wears Strat's red shirt rather than her white dress. Before Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are, the "churches, Big Macs" lines are gone. Now, Jagwire, Blake and Ledoux speak about how they miss Strat and that he'd know how to get them out of this (i.e. being caged). "We're screwed up. Our whole lives have been screwed up!" In the scene where Falco bursts into Raven's room while Zahara is there gathering her things, Falco seems far more violent as he flings Zahara around during the scene until she pulls out a gun and shoots the ceiling. The scene in act 2 where Raven describes her dream to Strat has been cut down to just one line from I've Been Dreaming Up a Storm Lately - "You have such a beautiful reflection, don't ever waste it". The conversation between Zahara and Strat in the graveyard is a little extended. Zahara: "Remember when they were going to blow up the Deep End? We were all so scared. We thought we were going to die there. But you, you said everything would be ok, you saved us, Strat. We need you. Raven needs you. You love her" "No" "You do. So go talk to her" After the show has ended, instrumentals of Good Girls Go to Heaven and Dead Ringer for Love play as the audience leave. Changes between London opening preview (5th June 2017) and London press night (20th June 2017) After Tink crashes his bicycle, when Strat and Tink are conversing on the old mattress, Strat ruffles Tink's hair and calls him "my little Tinkerbell". Zahara & Strat's bulldozing dialogue has changed to "do you think Falco's going to bulldoze the Deep End?" "Not after what we did to him today!" During Out of the Frying Pan (in full), Tink crawls through Strat's legs. Falco's dialogue before Paradise by the Dashboard Light - his "joke" is gone and is now plainly "you keep away from that kid or I'll fucking kill him!" The Stars (spoken word) piece was missing on opening preview. By 10th June (afternoon), it was back. Changes spotted on press night (20th June 2017) Opening scene (All Revved Up intro): Tink and Strat doing a secret handshake, then Tink handing him the mic ready to start singing. Strat called Tink "my Tinkerboy" in the naming birds scene, and Tink very definitely went in for a kiss before Strat pulled away. Paradise: a cake slice was left on the bonnet when Rob pulled the tablecloth away, so Sharon had fun pretending to feed him some before throwing it to one side. Dream suppressants scene: Zahara has a new costume, it's pale turquoise with white collars/cuffs rather than the white nurse's uniform. Also seemed like tons more dry ice during Bat to mask the bike's lack of motion. Worked pretty well! It's now Zahara who has the gun and backs Falco into the pool, with Jagwire as backup. The 6 months later projection is back, along with a brief scene of Sloane walking across the stage carrying a case - I guess to signify her leaving Falco during that time. She now makes her entrance in It's All Coming Back to Me Now through the door rather than on from the side of the stage. Changes after London press night (20th June 2017) Zahara no longer says "There's a lot you don't know about me, Strat" After Tink's funeral, the "six months later" screen is shown again before the scene with Zahara and Strat in the graveyard. The flowers around his tomb are now brown and withered, but "TINK" is still readable. The newspaper "Obsidian Times" is no longer given to the audience.